With his indictment Wednesday, Chattanooga City Councilman John “Duke” Franklin Jr. joins a recently swollen list of public officials charged with crimes.

“It’s more disappointing than anything,” said fellow City Councilman Manny Rico. “Everybody thinks we are on the take anyway or a bunch of crooks.”

City Councilman Jack Benson said he hopes the public does not judge all elected officials by the actions of a few.

Mr. Franklin was arrested Wednesday and charged with conspiracy to launder drug proceeds, obstruction of justice and making a false statement to a federal officer.

Despite a spate of local and state officials being arrested in the past couple of years, corrupt officials actually are rare, despite eroding public confidence that casts skepticism on all elected officials, according to Dr. Bob Swansbrough, a political science professor at UTC.

“There is an immediate impact among their supporters, and for others it reinforces all too sadly a stereotype that politics is dirty, and that corruption is rampant,” he said.

“Quite honestly, that’s the exception rather than the rule,” he said, “but the news media gives so much attention to the exceptions that I think it tarnishes the reputations of many hardworking and dedicated public servants.”

The arrest “really makes other elected officials look bad,” Mr. Rico said.

Anita Polk Conley, president of the M.L. King Neighborhood Association, agreed, saying she also is disappointed by Mr. Franklin’s arrest.

“I think anytime you have an elected official who people have trusted and is accused of a crime at this level, it’s disappointing,” she said. “You hope that he is not convicted in the media and that he is given a fair examination of the facts.”

Recent cases

Former Hamilton County Sheriff Billy Long pleaded guilty May 5 to 27 of 28 charges against him, including extortion, money laundering, gun and drug charges stemming.

Mr. Long was arrested in February after authorities gathered evidence showing he had taken more than $23,000 in illegal payoffs during convenience-store shakedowns and alleged drug trafficking. He also was recorded giving a gun to someone he knew was a convicted felon and taking part in a cocaine transaction.

Mr. Long’s extortion and money-laundering charges carry sentences of up to 20 years each, plus a $250,000 fine, while the gun charge carries a maximum of 10 years, plus a $250,000 fine. But the drug charge — possessing cocaine with intent to distribute — carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years and a maximum of life in prison, along with a fine of up to $4 million.

He is scheduled to be sentenced Aug. 18.

Former state Sen. Ward Crutchfield, D-Chattanooga, and former Rep. Chris Newton, R-Ducktown, were charged in 2006 along with former Hamilton County Commissioner William Cotton and former county school board member and unregistered lobbyist Charles Love in Operation Tennessee Waltz, a yearlong public corruption sting.

Altogether, five former state lawmakers plus several others and local officials were charged with extortion and accepting bribes to support legislation benefiting a bogus electronics recycling company set up by the FBI.

Mr. Cotton pleaded innocent but was found guilty at trial in February 2006. He is serving a three-year sentence at a minimum security prison camp in Edgefield, S.C.

Mr. Crutchfield pleaded guilty Feb. 12, 2007, and was sentenced to six months on house arrest for illegally accepting a $3,000 “gratuity.”

Mr. Newton pleaded guilty Aug. 30, 2005, and served about nine months in a federal prison camp in Atlanta.

Mr. Love pleaded guilty Aug. 16, 2005, and is serving a yearlong federal sentence near Savannah, Ga. He is scheduled to be released July 22.

In addition to these elected officials, former Chattanooga Neighborhood Services Director Kenardo Curry and several of those who worked in his department face charges in Hamilton County Criminal Court of theft and official misconduct.

Dr. Swansbrough said corruption breeds distrust among voters.

“Quite clearly when you have a corrupt administration, whether we are looking at the Tennessee Waltz legislative scandal and taking money at different levels or, for that matter, the recent case of Sheriff Billy Long, obviously the public is dismayed,” he said. “People voted for them and had confidence in them, and obviously they feel somewhat betrayed as well as angry.”